Biscuit or cookie products are a popular snack food and, in particular, there is a large market for layered biscuit products having a varied texture and taste provided by a filling. It is known to provide a range of fillings including emulsion fillings and anhydrous fat-based fillings. These provide a desirable mouth feel and are popular commercial products.
However, the fillings include a fat ingredient in order to provide a workable composition and a firm final layer within the product. The use of saturated fats in these fillings is in particular required to provide a sufficient firmness, a nice melting and flavour release. However, saturated fats are known to give rise to health issues and it is desirable to reduce the amount of such fats from the diet.
Fat blends and their use in fillings are well known in the art and are discussed in WO2009013473, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,182,857, 5,762,990 and WO2006136536.
WO2007090477, in particular, discloses a filling formed from a fat blend comprising a hard fat and a liquid oil. WO2007090477 discloses anhydrous fillings containing more than 36 wt % fat. WO2007090477 also indicates that the saturated fat (safa) content of greater than 25 wt % is required to provide the solid or semi-solid texture necessary for a filling.